


Piercing the Veil

by OnceUponADestiel (Jems_of_Grace)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergent, Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, From 3x16, Hellhounds, M/M, Nightmares, No Rest For The Wicked - Freeform, Parallel Universes, Smut, Temporary Amnesia, To 3x16, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:43:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10033925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jems_of_Grace/pseuds/OnceUponADestiel
Summary: Thanks for reading, really hope you're enjoying it so far :)Would really appreciate some feedback on this fic if you don't mind, pretty please with a cherry on top *flutters eyelashes*Love ya <3





	1. No Rest for the Wicked

_He's running._

_He's running and it feels like he's been running for_ miles...  _F_ _or_ hours...  _For a_ whole freaking year... 

_He's crashing through undergrowth, branches thwacking against his shoulders, thorns scraping over his bare arms, drawing blood in thin lines that dance across the surface of his skin in a kind of intricate, arabesque pattern..._

_Mud is splattering up over his jeans, he's barely escaping a thousand trips as he jumps blindly over tree roots and collides with their trunks as he distractedly glances over his shoulder at the sound of rustling from behind._

_But those small discomforts, they don't matter because if that thing catches him, he's in for a whole lot worse..._

_It's somewhere behind him; he can't see it yet but he knows it's there, not far off now, the distance between them closing fast. It's all he's aware of any more, all he can think of..._

_And then, suddenly, the rustling behind him stops and he stops dead himself as he comes out into a clearing but the darkness is closing in around him. The only source of light, between the shadows of the trees... a pair of eyes, glowing red..._

_And for a brief second, he's frozen to the spot, watching those two pinpricks of light stare right back at him and he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that's it's over._

_He gives it one last hopeless push and turns as though to start running back in the direction he's just come but before he can take more than a single step, the thing is on him and with a growl and a shake, he's down, being dragged back into the clearing by his arm, feeling the sharp piercing of teeth ripping into his skin, the first blood beginning to dribble from the wound._

_And then he's aware that he's screaming and it's all claws and pain and sharp and blood and blood and..._

_...and fire._

 

~*~

 

Dean wakes with a start, shaking from the vividness of the dream, still pumped with adrenaline from the run and though he knows it wasn't real, he can't help the glance over his shoulder, the quick scan of the room as his breath evens out, his heart rate beginning to steady and he blinks hard, trying to erase the imagery from his mind. 

He's had a lot of dreams like that recently. And whilst he'd like to imagine it's cause of some physco babble reason; his brain trying to process, trying to make sense of everything; all the crazy he's had to deal with in his twenty-seven _long_ years... The reality is somewhat more troublesome.

It's a warning of what's soon to come... 

Dean presses his fingers to his eyes in exhaustion; he's not had a decent nights sleep in weeks - it's no wonder he's falling asleep on the job. 

The research book he'd been reading before dropping off (and more recently had been using as a pillow) lay wide open on the table still, beside it a candle flickering down to the very end of it's wick. A hideously graphic illustration stared back up at him; the infamous hellhound. 

'Dig up anything good?' the sound of approaching footsteps and Sam's questioning voice over his shoulder. 

Dean closes his eyes again, just for a second. He's not _nearly_ ready for today. Finally he answers: 'No. Nothing good.'

'Well Bobby has. Finally.' And there's the hint of hope in his voice. A hope Dean doesn't particularly share. 

'Yeah?'

'Yeah. A way to, _possibly_ , evade the hounds. He wouldn't say much else over the phone.'

'Wow! With just, err...' he checked his watch, a sick swooping motion travelling through his stomach as he took in the time. '...thirty hours to go...'

Sam crouched down beside his chair, looking his brother dead in the eye as he prepared himself, Dean was sure, for dishing out a ton of reassuring crap. 'Dean, we're cutting it close, I know but we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to hell. I'm not gonna let you. I swear. Everything's gonna be okay.' Yup. And Dean really wished he could believe his baby brother... _he really did..._ But the sad fact was, throughout the entirety of Sam's little speech, his face had appeared distorted; flickering in and out of focus... His eyes sinking into bottomless dark holes full of terror... 

Dean blinked back the hallucination but it never entirely disappeared. He spoke calmly, rationally; not wanting to give away that he was seeing anything out of the ordinary. But inside he felt nothing but fear pulse through his blood, reaching into every corner of his body... And it was as though from a distance that he heard himself say, 'Yeah. Okay.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, really hope you're enjoying it so far :) 
> 
> Would really appreciate some feedback on this fic if you don't mind, pretty please with a cherry on top *flutters eyelashes*
> 
> Love ya <3


	2. Chapter One - The Ritual

'There's this ritual. It's called _"Piercing the Veil"._ ' Bobby explained gruffly, tracing over the lines of text on the ancient book in front of him. 'The idea, s'far as I can make out, is to rip a hole between this world and the next.'

'Wait. What?'

'Another _world?'_ Sam sounded equally confused and ten times more excited. 

'You boys never heard of parallel universes?'

'Well, yeah but-'

'And you're saying this is a _real_ , sure fire thing?'

'S'far as I can tell. Says in a ton of different places about pagans and shamans and such having the ability to walk between worlds. Seems as likely as half the other crap we dig up... Not to mention this is the one seemingly supernatural thing even frigging scientists have vouched a little for... Pretty unusual in our line a work...'

'I'll say...'

Dean glanced between Bobby's furrowed brow and Sam's barely controlled geek-out and back again. 'So, how's it work?'

'Well the ritual; it's part pagan, part angelic-'

'Angelic!' Sam repeated looking every bit like he's _just_ had a religious experience.

'Wait,' Dean says with a small snort. 'You're serious?'

'Oh ye of little faith,' Bobby drawled sarcastically at Dean's skepticism.

'Yeah? What do we know about angels?'

'I got _stacks_ of lore. Biblical. Pre-biblical. Some of it's in damn _Cuneiform._ It all saysangelic ritual can be usedto move souls between worlds. That the angels themselves passed the knowledge on to humans.' Sam looked enraptured, Dean dubious. Bobby continued in spite of them. 'That hole you've ripped - that's your escape hatch. Hellhounds can't move between the Veils-'

'The what now?'

'The Veils? Like the fabric of the universe. It's what's holding everything together and it's also what's separates one plane of reality from another. Like an invisible curtain, if you like...'

'Huh... And you're sure they can't get through?'

'Not if we stitch that hole right back up the second you've got your behind outta the way, no. Hellhounds got no way of piercing the Veil themselves y'see.'

'Huh.'

'Once you're on the other side, you won't officially exist in this world anymore.'

'Meaning?'

 _'Meaning,_ for all intents and purposes, you'll be dead. Nothing left for them Hellhounds to sniff out. Once they've turned tail and headed back down to Hell, we can pierce the Veil again. Let you back through.'

'You think that'll work. You don't think they'll get sent back the second Hell realises they've a soul missing?'

Bobby shrugs, 'It's possible... But we can always send you back through again. If nothing else, it buys us a whole lot more time.'

Dean ponders this for a moment. There was no denying it could still be pretty dangerous. _I mean, who knows what'll be on the other side..._ But on the other hand, it wasn't likely to be as dangerous as having a great big "mythical" Hellhound, literally dragging his ass down to the very depths of Hell. 

'There's got to be a catch - it's too simple. There's _always_ a catch...'

Bobby gives Dean a long hard stare before he just comes out and says it. 'Temporary amnesia.'

A pause. 'That's it?'

'S'far as I can see...'

'And it's definitely _temporary?'_ Sam double checks, for the first time appearing apprehensive. 

'Soon as yer back in this world; the world yeh supposed to be in, your memory should start returning.' Bobby reassures Dean with a nod to Sam. 'That's the one thing I'm not all too clear on - no two accounts are the same. Some say you lose all your memories the second you step through. Others say it's just the long term memories gone. Others just the short term. And yet others say it's a gradual process - the longer you're out of your own plane, the more memories you lose... The only thing they all seem to agree on is that once you're home, sooner or later, you're memories _will_ return.'

A short silence follows as Dean drinks in all this new information. Sam looks like he has at least a dozen more questions but Dean isn't entirely sure he wants to hear them. Or their answers for that matter. 

'So. What d'ya think?' Bobby eventually asks gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his chair as he surveys the brothers. 'I know it's risky but whatever you decide, I'm right behind yeh kid. Just getting a bit late in the day for other options to likely crop up...'

Sam opens his mouth to speak but Dean gets in first. 

'I'll go for it.'

Bobby blinks but doesn't appear at all surprised by this turn out. Sam, predictably, is brimming with questions. 'You sure about this Dean? Sounds pretty dangerous... Unpredictable even and-'

'Yeah... Yeah it does but... It's the best chance I've got, right? Can't see any of us stumbling across any other ideas any time soon and... And I... I really don't wanna _die,_ Sammy,' Dean admitted in a moment of vulnerability. 

Sam nods slowly, apparently appeased. 'Yeah, well... I'm with you there...'

'So, Bobby...' Dean fixes the older man with a cocky grin, trying not to display any of the doubt he's actually feeling. 'What we gonna need for this ritual?'

 

~*~

 

There isn't exactly much time left to spare so they decide to get started right away. Bobby grabs some dried herbs from his store cupboard and starts grinding them down into a powder. 

Sam searches the house from top to bottom, slowly gathering together a number of seemingly random objects from a list Bobby has written up for him. 

Dean was sent upstairs for a bath. 

He ran the water feeling somewhat ridiculous; couldn't remember the last time he'd used a bath instead of a shower. Mostly cause of time and lack of opportunity in their cheap ugly and generally unhygienic motel bathrooms but also cause of some irritating niggling feeling in the back of his head, that it was such a girly thing to do... But he was under strict instructions to not come back down until he had bathed for at least an hour in steaming hot salt water. Apparently it was noted as part of the ritual that the person attempting to "walk between worlds" should take a purifying bath before hand. Dean honestly thought it was a waste of time but Bobby argued that they only had one chance to get this right. And if things went wrong just cause Dean hadn't taken the time to bathe... well, then they really would have wasted their time...

He poured a whole carton of sea salt under the running faucet and climbed in when it was almost full. He hissed as the water closed in around his legs, the heat stinging against the soles of his feet but it only took a minute or so for him to grow accustomed to the temperature and then he sank down beneath the surface, feeling the water enclose about his whole body. Dean lay back against the side of the bath, letting his body soak up the moisture and scooping up small handfuls of undissolved salt to rub into his skin.

After about half-an-hour Dean allowed himself to admit that he was actually enjoying himself. It was really quite nice, just lying back in the tub and allowing himself to relax for a change. It was definitely an experience he could get used to, given half the chance. 

He made sure to soak his hair beneath the water too and not wanting the salt to sting his eyes, closed them before splashing his face. He wasn't allowed to wash his hair with shampoo or use any soap. Bobby had been very firm on this point. Apparently the unnatural chemicals the pharmaceutical companies used to make such products, would effect the purity of the bath water, meaning he wouldn't be "clean" for the ritual. But the salt made a pretty good body scrub and Dean emerged from the water pink and glowing and feeling as though he'd spent the last hour in some fancy expensive spa. 

He patted his skin dry with the clean towel Bobby had sent him up with and scrubbed over his dripping hair, before wrapping it around his waist, toga style and slowly plodding barefoot back down the stairs.

Bobby and Sam had already made their way outside. It was pretty cold out, wearing just a towel but Dean decidedly ignored the goose pimples that prickled down the lengths of his arms. 

Bobby was sweeping the floor with an old fashioned looking broomstick and Dean was on the verge of cracking some inappropriate joke, probably concerning flying lessons or something equally inane but Bobby shot him a warning glance - just _don't._ So Dean grinned but kept quiet.

'Space needs to be purified with a sage broom.' Bobby explained gruffly and then nodded to Sam where he was kneeled on the floor, surrounded by all the random things h'd collected. At Bobby's signal he picked up a long stick of white chalk and drew a large perfect circle over the swept floor.

He checked a compass and drew a rune to the north of the circle and then others to the east, south and west. _'Laguz,'_ he said as he drew the ancient letters. _'Thurisaz, Kenaz, Uruz...'_

And then, between the compass points but within the circle, he drew other runes; each copied painstakingly from the book Bobby held open for him. Dean stood on helplessly and watched. His part in the ritual would come after.

 _'Jera, Naudhiz, Fehu.'_ Sam spoke as he drew. _'Ingwaz, Raidho, Sowilo. Ehwaz, Eihhaz, Berkano. Othala, Mannaz, Elhaz.'_ He finished the small runes and then drew a large alchemical sigil at the centre which Dean knew to represent Mercury.

Meanwhile Bobby busied himself placing Sam's collected objects around the circle, at each of the compass points. Some pink and white shells to the north, pale grey feathers to the east, small yellow tea light candles to the south and three crystals - chalcedony, moonstone and a tiny fragment of meteorite - to the west. That left six other objects in Sam's pile which Dean knew he himself had to place. 

Bobby stepped out of the way and Sam only came forwards to pass each of the objects to Dean before he placed them. First, a silver chalice filled with spring water. Dean took a sip of the water feeling like he was taking communion at church, before placing the chalice to the north. Next he placed the stick of incense Bobby had been preparing whilst Dean took his bath. A mixture of mustard seeds, comfrey, Irish moss and something which Bobby called bladderwrack.

'Kelp,' Sam had muttered at Dean's questioning look.

Dean lit the incense and then blew it out. A thin trail of smoke rose up from the end of the stick as it began to burn away. Dean wafted the smoke over his face, trying not to cough, before placing the incense to the east.

Thirdly he placed a large yellow pillar candle to the south, lighting it with one of the smaller candles already there.

Finally, a small potted plant of bergamot mint was placed to the west and Dean obligingly ran his fingertips over the leaves.

Then Bobby passed him the final two items, asking cautiously, 'You ready?'

'Yeah,' he said, the word coming out quieter than he'd expected but he gave a short nod of assurance. 

Sam crouched beside the chalk circle and rubbed out a couple of inches of it with his thumb. When he looked up at Dean it was like he couldn't help asking, 'You sure about this?'

'Yeah, Sammy. I'm sure.' Sam nodded, appearing nervous for the first time since they'd begun. 'Do I _really_ have to take this off though?' Dean asked gesturing to the towel around his waist and throwing Bobby his best pleading eyes. 'Bloody freezing out here.'

'The ritual has to be done "skyclad". You saw it written there for yerself, Dean.' And Dean nodded, begrudgingly because yes, he had seen it. But _c'mon!_ It had to be reaching some kind of minus degrees out here and these pagans could be a little overly elaborate with their rituals if you asked him.

So, reluctantly, he let the towel drop. Sam and Bobby both averted their eyes but Dean could feel his face heating with shame. This whole ritual thing was not doing anything for his ego. Dean stepped completely naked into the circle before Sam closed the circle up again with another line of chalk.

The final two tools that Bobby had passed Dean, were a wand and a knife. Dean was feeling utterly foolish by this point but he knew Bobby wouldn't have encouraged all this if he didn't think it would work. Just the same, he really wouldn't like to imagine how this would all look from an outsiders perspective. Three grown men prancing around in the near freezing cold, one of them as naked as the day he was born and holding a _wand_ and a _knife!_

The wand was actually quite an elaborate piece of craftsmanship, not at all like the kind you'd see your average fairy godmother waving around; a long thick stick of rowan wood, maybe nine inches, topped with a large pointy piece of smoky quartz and with tiny flecks of amethyst and bloodstone beaten into the wood.

And the knife, of similar size - which Bobby insisted was really called an athame - silver blade, double edged and razor sharp. It's handle dark ebony wood, an intricate pattern of celtic knots carved into it and a piece of blue topaz set into the top of its hilt. 

Once the circle was closed, Dean took a moment to hold eyes with both Bobby and Sam, before he began the ritual. He'd learnt his lines. He knew exactly what he had to do.

First he stepped to the north and dipped the blade of the athame and the crystal point of the wand into the chalice before speaking aloud the Enochian word for water, _'Zlida.'_ Then he moved to the west of the circle, passed the blade and the wand through the steady stream of incense smoke and spoke the Enochian word for air, _'Aalco.'_ Next he stepped to the south and passed the blade and the wand through the glowing flame of the pillar candle, speaking the Enochian word for fire, _'Maelpereji.'_ He moved over to the west, plunging the blade and the crystal wand point into the soil at the base of the potted plant and speaking the enochian word for earth, _'Caosga.'_ Finally he stepped back into the centre of the circle, raised both arms high above his head, still clutching the tools in either hand and said, _'Congamphlgh.'_

It was the strangest thing but at that final word, Dean had expected nothing. Instead, it was like the circle was suddenly charged with a kind of energy and Dean, at it's centre, had the power to access that energy and do with it whatsoever he pleased.

He lowered his arms, feeling a slight shudder run through him which he knew had nothing to do with the cold. He caught onto Sam's eyes from outside the circle and tried not to show the little bit of fear that was trembling through him. He needed to assure his little brother; he appeared slightly frightened and so he nodded once towards him before speaking aloud the Enochian words that would complete the ritual:

 

_'Ol dooain mirc a lang_

_adagita vinu_ _oi oresa barinu napea_

 _erm a ascha page_ _de pian_

_ar ol vavn saanir a Zodimibe_

_od zacar aao ho.'_

 

In his hands the wand and the athame seemed to grow hot with all the energy they had collected and Dean concentrated hard on the tip of the knife, moving it as though to slice through the surrounding pulsating air. It was like a thin film of energy came away and behind it, Dean could see something _other._ One last look back at Sam and Bobby, neither quite capable of hiding their fear but for the first time, Dean felt a bubble of excitement. It helped to wash his nerves away and so he grinned back cockily at them, letting the tools drop to the floor as he waved a hand in farewell and then prised apart that small slice of energy he'd cut, with his hands; somehow able now to feel the fickle shadowy edges of the Veil with just the palms of his hands... and pulled himself through.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested in the Enochian words Dean uses in the ritual of Piercing the Veil, I'll roughly translate what it would be in English below:
> 
>   
>  _'I call upon the angels_   
>  _to invoke this dark handled knife_   
>  _with the most subtle of qualities_   
>  _that I might pierce the Veil_   
>  _and move between worlds.'_   
> 
> 
>   
>  Other Enochian words used in the ritual included the words for each of the elements; _Earth = Caosga, Air = Aalco, Fire = Maelpereji, Water = Zlida and Ether or Spirit = Congamphlgh._  
>   
>  I used [Sinleb](http://www.sinleb.com/enochian/eng_index.php)to translate the English to Enochian.
> 
> Also used in the ritual were Anglo Saxon runes from the Elder Futhark. These were also used in conjunction with the elements and scattered around the inside of the circle for a variety of reasons such as protection, travel, extending energy etc...
> 
> Runes used in the ritual of Piercing the Veil and some of their more simplistic meanings:
> 
>   * _Laguz = water_
>   * _Thurisaz = force to free (used here to mean air)_
>   * _Kenaz = fire_
>   * _Uruz = earth_
> 

>   * _Jera = change_
>   * _Naudhiz = need or necessity_
>   * _Fehu = freedom_
>   * _Ingwaz = wanderer_
>   * _Raidho = travel_
>   * _Sowilo = guiding light_
>   * _Ehwaz = extending energy_
>   * _Eihwaz = worldsbinding_
>   * _Berkano = earthpower or rebirth_
>   * _Othala = home_
>   * _Mannaz = human_
>   * _Elhaz = protection_
> 



End file.
